Faculty

• Director, Associate Professor
  Cancer Prevention and Control Program
  University of Hawaii Cancer Center

Degrees

• PhD, Health Education/Community Health
  Texas A&M University
• MPH, Health Education/Communications
  Tulane University School of Public Health & Tropical Medicine

Research Focus

Dr. Fagan examines social and behavioral factors associated with tobacco use and second-hand smoke exposure among minority racial/ethnic, low socioeconomic status, and other disadvantaged or marginalized groups. Her research focuses on individual, interpersonal and policy-level factors associated with tobacco-related disparities across the tobacco use continuum. As co-chair of the Tobacco Research Network on Disparities (TReND), Dr. Fagan has helped advance our understanding of tobacco health disparities science and inform public policy through TReND's research projects (tobaccodisparities.org). She has conducted and stimulated novel research that examines sampling methodologies among small and geographically dispersed populations including migrant farm workers and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender of color; the effects of tobacco control policies on low socioeconomic status women and girls; and conceptual and methodological issues in tobacco-related health disparities research. Her most current research examines nicotine dependence and quitting behaviors among menthol cigarette smokers and light smokers.

In addition to her work on tobacco-related disparities, Dr. Fagan examines intrapersonal and interpersonal factors associated with quitting behaviors among youth and young adults. She has worked with the Youth Tobacco Cessation Collaborative to implement a blueprint that identifies ways to help young people quit smoking. She has worked with researchers to evaluate the efficacy of interventions designed to help young people quit smoking.

Dr. Fagan received a National Cancer Institute Director's Award in 2006 for her collaborative work in training minority investigators and was recognized by Aetna Insurance in the Aetna African American History Calendar, 25th Anniversary Edition for her work in tobacco-related health disparities. In 2007, she received the National Institutes of Health Merit Award for her leadership in tobacco-related health disparities research. Dr. Fagan is a member of the American Public Health Association and now serves on the advisory committee of the Health Disparities Network for the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco.

Publications

• Rose A, Fagan P, Lawrence D, Hart A Jr, Shavers V, Gibson T. Worksite and home smoking bans among adult employed females. American Journal of Health Promotion (In Press).
• Fagan P, Moolchan E, Hart A Jr, Rose A, Lawrence D, Shavers V, Gibson T. Nicotine dependence and quitting behaviors among menthol and non-menthol smokers with similar consumptive patterns. Addiction 105 Suppl 1:55-74, 2010.
• Lawrence D, Rose A, Fagan P, Moolchan E, Gibson T, Backinger C. National patterns and correlates of mentholated cigarette use in the United States. Addiction 105 Suppl 1:13-31, 2010.
• Fagan P, Brook JS, Rubenstone E, Zhang C, Brook DW (2009). Longitudinal precursors of young adult light smoking among African Americans and Puerto Ricans. Nicotine and Tobacco Research 11(2): 139-47, 2009.

Publication list via PubMed